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Judgment
V.K. Tahilramani, J.
This appeal is preferred by the appellant - original accused against the judgment and order dated 20.11.2012 passed by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Solapur in Sessions Case No. 163 of 2012. By the said judgment and order, the learned Session Judge convicted and sentenced the appellant as under:-
The learned Sessions Judge directed that both the substantive sentences of imprisonment shall run concurrently.
The prosecution case briefly stated, is as under:
(a) Deceased Zahida Gani Korbu was the resident of village Angar in Solapur. Zahida used to do agricultural work of harvesting grass. First informant PW 1 Aslam and PW 2 Prashant were also residents of village Angar. Aslam had agricultural land in the area of village Angar. His agricultural land was situated adjacent to the field of Balasaheb Gund. The agricultural land of PW 2 Prashant was also situated near the agricultural field of PW 1 Aslam. The appellant was working as labourer in the land of one Anil Shinde since last about seven months prior to the incident.
(b) The incident occurred on 1.4.2012 at about 2.00 to 2.30 p.m. At that time, PW 1 Aslam was harvesting grass in his field. He heard the voice of a woman from the direction of the field of Balasaheb Gund. The lady was loudly shouting, "No, No. Save, Save". Aslam then went in the direction from which he heard the voice. He stood on the Bandh of his field. From there, he saw the appellant sitting on the chest of Zahida and he was giving fist blows to her. As the appellant was physically strong, Aslam did not go near the appellant, instead, he contacted his friends PW 2 Prashant Shinde and Ganesh Pawar on mobile and called them to the spot. PW 2 Prashant Shinde and Ganesh reached the spot within few minutes. Then they went near the appellant and the lady. The appellant was sitting on the body of Zahida and was pressing her throat. They caught the appellant. They asked the appellant his name and he gave his name as Ramu Chandrappa Jundpalli. He stated that he was a resident of Kallur road, Dist. Gulbarga. They saw that the woman was Zahida Gani Korbu who was the resident of their village. They saw that she was dead. The saree on the person of Zahida was partly removed. The blouse of Zahida was also partly removed. Aslam and others took the appellant to Gram Panchayat Office of Angar village. They called the police. Thereafter, they handed over the appellant to the police. PW 1 Aslam then lodged F.I.R. Exh. 11. Thereafter, investigation commenced.
(c) The dead body of Zahida was sent for postmortem. During postmortem, 14 external injuries were found on the body of Zahida including many injuries on the neck. The cause of death was asphyxia due to throttling. After completion of investigation, the charge sheet came to be filed. In due course, the case was committed to the Court of Sessions.
Charge came to be framed against the appellant under Sections 354 and 302 of IPC. The appellant/accused pleaded not guilty to the said charge and claimed to be tried. His defence was that of total denial and false implication. After going through the evidence adduced in this case, the learned Sessions Judge convicted and sentenced the appellant as stated in paragraph 1 above, hence, this appeal.
We have heard the learned Advocate for the appellant and the learned APP for the State. After giving our anxious consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case, arguments advanced by the learned Advocates for the parties, the judgment delivered by the learned Sessions Judge and the evidence on record, for the reasons stated below, we are of the opinion that the appellant outraged the modesty of Zahida and throttled her to death.
The conviction is mainly based on the evidence of PW 1 Aslam who is an eye witness to the incident. Aslam has stated that his agricultural land was situated in village Angar. His agricultural land was situated adjacent to the field of Balasaheb Gund. The agricultural land of PW 2 Prashant was also situated near the agricultural field of PW 1 Aslam. The appellant was working as labourer in the land of one Anil Shinde since last about seven months prior to the incident. Aslam has further stated that the incident occurred on 1.4.2012 at about 2.00 to 2.30 p.m. At that time, Aslam was harvesting grass in his field. He heard the voice of a woman from the direction of the field of Balasaheb Gund. The lady was loudly shouting, "No, No. Save, Save". Aslam then went in the direction from which he heard the voice. He stood on the Bandh of his field. From there, he saw the appellant sitting on the chest of Zahida and he was giving fist blows to her. As the appellant was physically strong, Aslam did not go near the appellant, instead, he contacted his friends PW 2 Prashant Shinde and Ganesh Pawar on mobile and called them to the spot. PW 2 Prashant Shinde and Ganesh reached the spot within few minutes. Then they went near the appellant and the lady. The appellant was sitting on the body of Zahida and was pressing her throat. They caught the appellant. They asked the appellant his name and he gave his name as Ramu Chandrappa Jundpalli. He stated that he was the resident of Kallur road, Dist. Gulbarga. They saw that the woman was Zahida Gani Korbu who was a resident of their village. They saw that she was dead. The saree on the person of Zahida was partly removed. The blouse of Zahida was also partly removed. Aslam and others took the appellant to Gram Panchayat Office of Angar village. They called the police. Thereafter, they handed over the appellant to the police. PW 1 Aslam then lodged F.I.R.
The evidence of PW 2 Prashant corroborates the evidence of PW 1 Aslam to some extent. Prashant has stated that his agricultural land was situated near the land of Balu Gund and Aslam. He has stated that he knew deceased Zahida Korbu. She was the resident of village Angar. Prashant has further stated that the incident took place at 2.30 p.m. on 1.4.2012. At that time, he was working in his field. He received phone call from PW 1 Aslam. Aslam told him that he was standing on the Bandh of his agricultural land as he heard the voice of a woman from the field of Balu. Aslam told him that somebody was beating the woman and Aslam was afraid of going there. After saying so, Aslam called Prashant. Prashant then went where Aslam was standing. They then entered the field of Balu Gund. They saw one person was just standing up after sitting on the body of a woman. The said person was the appellant. The blouse of that woman was removed. The saree of that woman was also partly removed. That woman was Zahida Korbu. They then brought the appellant to Gram Panchayat office of village Angar. Police came to Gram Panchayat office and took the appellant in their custody.
It is the prosecution case that the appellant outraged the modesty of Zahida. This is seen from the evidence of PW 1 Aslam, PW 2 Prashant as well inquest panchnama Exh. 12. PW 1 Aslam has stated that when he reached near the appellant and Zahida, the appellant was sitting on the body of Zahida and was pressing her throat. Zahida was dead. Aslam has further stated that the blouse of Zahida was removed and the saree of Zahida was also partly removed. The evidence of PW 2 Prashant also shows that when he went near the appellant and Zahida, he saw that the blouse of Zahida was removed and her saree was also partly removed. The inquest panchnama Exh. 12 also shows that the string on the petticoat of Zahida was untied and the saree had been moved upwards. Thus, the evidence of PW 1 Aslam, PW 2 Zahida and inquest panchnama Exh. 12 clearly shows that an offence under Section 354 of IPC is made out.
It is the prosecution case that the appellant assaulted Zahida and caused her death by throttling her. This is supported by the medical evidence. PW 4 Dr. Ghodake conducted the postmortem on the dead body of Zahida. On external examination, she found the following injuries:-
(1) Contusion on left eye;
(2) Abrasion 1.5 x 0.2 cm near right angle of mouth;
(3) Abrasion 0.3 x 0.1 cm on left cheek;
(4) Laceration 2 x 0.2 cm near left eye;
Neck:-
(1) Contused abrasion 4 x 2 cm apparent in front of neck;
(2) Small abrasion 0.4 x 0.1 cm in front of sternoclavicular notch;
(3) Abrasion with contusion 2 x 0.1 cm on neck;
(4) Abrasion with contusion below chin 1.5 x 0.1 c.m.
(5) Abrasion with contusion 0.5 x 0.1 below left ear;
(6) Small crescentic abrasion 0.3 x 0.1 c.m. right side of neck;
(7) Small crescentic abrasion 0.2 x 0.1 c.m. right side of neck;
(8) Small crescentic abrasion 0.3 x 0.1 c.m. right side of neck;
(9) Small abrasion 0.3 x 0.1 c.m. left side of neck;
(10) Small abrasion 0.2 x 0.1 c.m. left side of neck.
According to Dr. Ghodake, the above injuries were ante-mortem.
Dr. Ghodake found following internal injuries:-
(1) Brain matter congested;
(2) Petechial hemorrhages present on brain matter;
(3) Larnyx congested, petechial hemorrhages present over it;
(4) Right lung congested and bulky, petechial hemorrhages present;
(5) Left lung congested and bulky, petechial hemorrhages present.
In the opinion of Dr. Ghodake, the cause of death was asphyxia due to throttling. Dr. Ghodake further opined that the injuries mentioned by him in post-mortem report are possible due to pressing the neck.
On going through the record, we are of the opinion that there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant committed the offence under Sections 354 as well as 302 of IPC. Thus, we find no merit in the appeal. The appeal is dismissed.
Office to communicate this order to the appellant who is in jail.
We quantify legal fees to be paid by the High Court Legal Services Committee to the appointed Advocate Mrs. Nasreen S.K. Ayubi at Rs. 5000/-.